Palama Tiki's First 2 Carvings...New Photos Added 3/15/2005

here are the first two carvings that I've done so far after hanging out at TC for several weeks..

Both of these are palm logs that i rescued from someone's trashpile several years ago.

Prior to having any carving knowledge, I had basically "etched" some features on the logs and accented the features with paint. After seeing how it's done from all you carvers, I decided to experiment on these guys.

Here's the first guy..

and here's the second guy: this palm, unlike the first, was very damp and stringy the whole way through, so i couldn't get much detail. the interesting thing about this palm log was that the face was 'grown in' naturally; all i did was bring out the features; he basically told me that he wanted to be a snarkey-lookin' monkey, so that's what he is...

they are both hanging out at our lakeside property. we've designed the lake area to be a mix of Spanish shipwreck, pirate and polynesian... sorta like a cross between Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Swiss Family treehouse at DisneyWorld.

You carvers are a great inspiration.. i'm currently working on tiki #3. Thanks for all the great ideas!

[ Edited by: Palama Tiki on 2005-03-15 06:37 ]

Any advice on how to enlarge the embedded photos in this posting?

thanks!

What you're doing is posting the thumbnail from Shutterfly - what you need to do (if using Windows) is click on the photos to enlarge, then use the address of the new window that popped up - that will post full-sized photos. From what I can make out your carvings look real nice - good work!

Thanks, johntiki! OK, let's try this again

Thanks to Moki as well!

Palama Tiki

Very nice. They look right at home. Dont wait to carve more and post lots of pics.

Thanks, Rodeotiki!

yep, they've settled in nicely... i'm working on a larger queen palm; got him semi-roughed out, but our daughter's wedding is coming up in a few weeks, so the tiki's on hold till after April 2. then i'll get back to it.

Palama Tiki, those are Excellent tikis. I've seen carvers who couldn't do better after years of carving. You Definately have to spend MORE time carving. Well done

Hey those are neat-o!
I also like the nautical thing you have going on in your backyard.

That second one's teeth look so real, very cool, but creepy!!

Great carvings! Welcome to the TC! Mahalo

Well I like the first the best, but the little tiki-gnome monkey guy is cool & a little weird at the same time! I like it.

Hey Palama, I'm glad you kept at it & posted some pics for us. Welcome to the group & keep sharing your art.

Hey gang, i'm really blown away by your generous comments! Thanks to all for looking and responding.

Benzart: i'm honored. thank you. your comments are like getting blessed from Mt. Olympus.

Tikiwahine: i'm glad that you like my work; i agree with you about the teeth; i ended up going with the rotten-tooth monkey look. funny how these things basically tell you what they want to be. I'm posting a few more shots of our lakeside for you.

McTiki: Thanks so much! it's a great group of people on this site!

Aaron's Akua: yep, the first one is my favorite as well, but monkey-guy is growing on me. Thanks again for all your help and support. i didn't forget about the AAC block; it's still in the garage. i've been practicing carving on styrofoam before i attempt the block, plus we have a wedding coming up, so we've been busy with that planning.

here's Tiki #3 in a very roughed out stage. queen palm, still pretty damp, so i did some chiseling, then let it dry, then chiseled some more. i think i need to make the mouth bigger; too much room between the nose and the upper lip; looks like he's got a mustache; maybe i'll leave it and call him "Mafia Tiki".. :)

Tikiwahine, here are a few more shots of the lake:

we renamed the upper area Hurricane Harbor after having 3 hurricanes pass over last year..

This section is named Castaway Cove:

The cove section is designed to look like it was built from a shipwreck (i made the cannon as well):

here's the polynesian side: the two poles are actually hammock posts (hammock not shown); i bought some wood carvings in Orlando that were made in Bali and attached them to the poles (can't carve treated wood; just ask Ben!)

we used to have about 25 additional feet of yard there, but the lake level really rose after the hurricanes. the lower hammock post is now in the water.

and here's an overall shot of the upper and lower areas:

thanks again for all the encouragement!

My heart feels so heavy when I see people with cool yards like that because I know I will never be so lucky. Your yard is amazing! Can you fish from there?

Finkdaddy:

don't be sad... Move to Florida! :)

My wife and I grew up in PA, but my heart has always been in FL, so i finally decided to move my body to where my heart was.

when we moved to our lakefront home, the only thing there was one sabal palm. everything else was added over time. i totally re-built the hut area after Charley came thru and destroyed the old hut.

yes, you can fish in the lake, but i don't allow it from our property since i swim and dive the lake, and i don't need to be getting hung up in fishing line or stepping on a snagged hook. most people fish from their shore or jon boats. we have a 17 foot canoe that's in drydock waiting for the lake level to drop; our canoe stand is submerged.

You swim from there too?!?! [heavy sigh] :( [/heavy sigh]

not fair

finkdaddy:

man, i can hear ya sighing from here!

yep, i swim in my lake. i do sprint triathlons, so that's where i train for the swim portion. i really love my lake!

but, if it makes you feel any better, i got in the water on Sunday, and it was a tad chilly.

A tad chilly? Now you're just rubbing it in.

Yesterday for a short while it got above freezing, so the snow melted off the top of my garage. Last night it dropped to sub-freezing again so all the water froze and I had to chop at the ice with a shovel this morning so my wife could open the door and get to work. A tad chilly indeed...

Honestly though, I have good memories of Florida. My Mom's parents live in Sanford. When I was younger we spent a couple of weeks at their house. My Grandfather is a terrific guitar player who used to have his own radio show in the 50's. Before that he traveled a bit playing guitar in Gene Autry's band. We used to all sit around the fire pit at night while he played and sang. He also used to take us fishing all the time in the St. John's river. I probably haven't been down there in 12 years or more.

My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth...

[ Edited by: finkdaddy on 2005-03-15 07:14 ]

sorry, bro, i couldn't resist.. :wink:

i remember those days of chipping ice; not fun! but very cool about your grandfather!

you've been away too long.. come on down!

Wow!! Nice job... GO DEEP... My first one will be done tommorow!